Japan Airlines presented their ‘vision’ yesterday (.pdf) and it includes launching a new route to the West Coast next year. My guess is San Jose or Seattle, even though neither is a hub for their joint venture partner American Airlines. (I have a hard time seeing Phoenix make sense due to lack of O/D traffic.)

Plans to launch a new route to the west coast of North America, thereby further improve connectivity between North America and Asia, in FY2019.

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Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

Comments

what a difference between JAL and the garbage US3 with their drunk incompetent CEO’s and bitter air and ground crew
Recently I flew with JAL, singapore and cathay, long and short flights, including domestic and international
what a difference from start to end, inside and outside the aircraft….
Scott -I drag people off-Kirby and DoUIg Parker should be sent to a Siberian labor camp (onboard a Jal aircraft as a send off gift)

I can’t believe it’s SJC because ANA is already there and I question whether there’s enough capacitiy to support two carriers…though if JAL flew to HND and not NRT that could siphon some traffic from ANA.

@Gary@Doug Swalen
I think it is Seattle, with Portland coming second on my list
SJC is saturated (maybe?) due to ANA AND proximity to SFO
Seattle would make sense as hub to Alaska, and perhaps also Portland as mini Alaska hub and connections eastbound….
Can you imagine a JAL passenger originating in NRT nad then connect in PHX to his domestic connection to, lets say, Miami, or Kansas, or New Orleans, and he is welcomed by an angry bitter granny who is in the back reading Jackie Collins books or working on her schedule?
Talk about culture shock for a Japanese passenger
just my 2 cents…

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.

Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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